I Am The Strip Club

Friday saw the premiere of Iggy Azalea’s new “I Am The Strip Club” video, and the visual quickly generated controversy over Azalea’s look in some part of the video. She faced accusations of “blackfishing,” which Urban Dictionary says “involves artificial tanning (spray tanning and tanning booths) and using makeup to manipulate facial features in order to appear to have some type of Black African ancestry.” Following the video’s release, Azalea took time to address criticisms on social media.

On Twitter shortly after the video was shared, she wrote, “Imagine being so upset about a black wig, somehow the same foundation color and tan I’ve had for years now (with no issue) Is now such a problem you have to pull up an image of me from 7 years ago when I didn’t like to tan. the desperation.” She added in another tweet, “I’m the same color as the other white dancer in the room and not anywhere close to the color of the black dancers. People will say ANYthing to try and cancel me and it’s actually kinda funny to watch people so worked up over a black wig and Smokey eye.” She then wrote, “I’m the same color as I always am, just in a dimly lit room with red lights. It’s the same makeup from every other part of the video just with a Smokey eye and different wig.”

Azalea went on to reiterate her points and call the blackfishing accusations “ridiculous and baseless,” writing, “I can’t care about something that ridiculous and baseless. I’m wearing a shade 6 in armarni foundation, it’s the same shade I’ve worn for the last 3 years. It’s the same shade in every music video since sally Walker. Suddenly I wear a black wig in a club scene & its an issue.”

A couple days after that, on the 4th Of July, she followed up, “To everyone showing me love: Thankyou for dedicating your day to me & helping me promote, I love you! To everyone showing me hate: Thankyou for dedicating your day to me & helping me promote, I love you!”

Check out Azalea’s tweets on the subject below.

Iggy Azalea is gearing up for her third album, End Of An Era. She previously shared the Tyga-featuring single “Sip It,” and now she’s back with another preview, the fun and bouncy single “I Am The Strip Club.” She also shared a video for the track, which features the rapper dancing and having fun on the road, in the back of an 18-wheeler and an ATV.

She says on the hook, “Don’t need dark rooms / I am the strip club / Don’t need red lights / I am the strip club / I do the lap dance / I ride the pole up / I am the, the strip club.” That lines up with how Azalea explained the song back in April, writing on Twitter, “The concept of the song ‘iam the strip club’ is basically about the fact that YOU ARE the good time. You don’t need to be in a club to be that lit.”

More recently, she wrote of the track on Instagram, “This song is really special to me – Seriously! […] This is my art, it makes me happy creating it and gives me purpose – So I hope someone is out this weekend dancing to this song! Your support matters to me so much I hope I can make everyone proud!”

For part of the video, Azalea is seen sporting black hair and skin that some people on Twitter think was intentionally made to look darker than her natural skin tone. After the video was released, in response to a compliment about her hair, Azalea noted that she’s retiring the black wig.

Azalea also thanked the people involved in making the video, saying, “I wanted to give a big Thankyou to @yeah_thas_me for bringing my music to life with his choreography as well as to all the dancers in this video… You guys made the video next level! I also want to give a giant Thankyou to @smashstunts for bringing together a group of amazing female riders for this video! Watching you guys handle those bikes with Eaze on those dark winding roads really blew my mind. You girls are amazing!”

Watch the “I Am The Strip Club’ video above.